August 26: MetLife Inc, a global financial service company, has appointed Kishore Ponnavolu as the president of the company’s Asia region effective from September 1. The company made the announcement in a statement on August 24 and added that he will be based in Hong Kong.

In addition, MetLife announced that Rebecca Tadikonda has been named head of Strategic Growth Markets, Asia, also effective from September 1.

According to the company, Ponnavolu will directly oversee Japan, Korea, Australia and LumenLab, MetLife Asia’s innovation hub. The markets for which Tadikonda will have responsibility are Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nepal and Vietnam.

Ponnavolu is currently head of MetLife’s Auto and Home Business in the United States, and Tadikonda is MetLife’s chief strategy officer.

“Kishore has a proven track record of transformational leadership that engages customers, motivates employees, and drives profitable growth,” the statement quoted president and CEO of the  company, Steven A Kandarian, as saying.

“These highly transferable skills make him the right leader for our large and growing Asia business, and I have every confidence that he will take it to even higher levels of success,” he added.

Within Auto and Home, Senior Vice President of Product Management Mick Noland and Vice President of Claims Darla Finchum will serve as interim co-heads of the business while MetLife conducts a search for Ponnavolu’s replacement.